


Artistic

by DeckofDragons



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Artist Scout, Background Spydad, Dyslexic Scout, Fear of Rejection, He's not, M/M, Mention of Lesbian Pauling, Rejection, Scout is bad with feelings, Scout thinks he's dumb, So is Sniper, self deprecating thoughts, they're perfect for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-12 03:49:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17460083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: Scout is upset, Sniper does his best to comfort him.





	1. Rejected

Scout had been rejected many times before so it was fine, he was fine. It also wasn’t the first time he’d made a fool of himself in front of a person that he liked like _that_. He’d survive, he always did, he was too cool not to. ~~He wasn’t cool though, that was a lie he told himself in a pathetic attempt to make himself feel better because he was annoying and lame and _everyone_ knew it.~~ He just needed a couple minutes of alone time to get over it.

Except he’d been here in this abandoned building’s basement for _well_ over a couple minutes and still didn’t feel over it. In fact, he’d probably been here for a couple _hours_ and still felt like a sad and lonely fool. He’d need to go back to base soon though because he needed food. But he wasn’t ready to put on a happy face yet so he couldn’t right now.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs had him jumping up and snapping around, instinctively reaching for his scattergun. He’d left it and his other weapons at the base though, leaving him unarmed. If it was an enemy, he’d have to fight them barehanded since running away wasn’t an option with them coming through the only exit point, not a good situation to be in.

Luckily the person who came around the corner was Sniper. Of all the people to interrupt Scout down here he was probably one of the better ones, he wouldn’t tell anyone he’d caught Scout sulking.

“Hey pal, how’s it going?” Scout said, putting on a practiced nonchalant attitude. That and running fast were the two things he was best at… annoying people was on that list too, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

“Eh, okay I guess.” Sniper awkwardly shrugged his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why you out here alone?”

“Why are _you_ out here?”

“Looking for you, Spy told me to check here.” Of course, Spy knew Scout was here, he seemed to always know everything about where everyone was. “Now uh… what’s wrong mate?”

Sniper strode over and awkwardly sat at the head of the table Scout had been sitting at. He was clearly trying to act causal but he wasn’t as good at it as Scout was. His movements were stiff and unsure, his expression too stoic, his eyes restless. He was nervous and… worried about Scout.

Scout sighed, deflating as he sunk back into his chair. There was no point pretending nothing was wrong, the fact that he was out here and had been so for so long gave him away. He should’ve gone back to base sooner to avoid this. He hadn’t thought anyone would come looking for him though and that they’d probably just decide to enjoy the silence his absence brought for as long as they could instead.

“It’s stupid,” he said, looking down at the table, rubbing his finger against the graffiti that had been scrawled there by some long-forgotten resident of the house or invader. “I’m just being dumb, it’s not a big deal.”

There was a pause before Sniper replied. “Tell me anyway?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I uh… want to help if I can.”

Well, perhaps it was okay to tell him. He wouldn’t tell anyone else and maybe he _could_ help in some way. So, with a deep breath, Scout looked back up at him. “It’s Miss Pauling. I asked her out and bought her a bunch of roses because girls like roses, right? And uh… she said ‘no’. She told me that she’s a lesbian. Which is cool, lesbians are super cool and stuff. But… I just thought that because she’s been being so nice to me lately that… maybe she liked me the same way.” In hindsight that had been the dumbest part of all this, someone being nice and friendly wasn’t an indicator of returned attraction. He’d just _wanted_ to see it that way and so he had. It wasn’t the first time he’d made the mistake either so he _should’ve_ known better. “See? Told you it was dumb.” He hung his head again with a sigh.

“That ain’t dumb,” Sniper said. “You like her a lot so of course you made a move, that’s what you’re supposed to do when you like someone like that, right? It’s not your fault she doesn’t feel the same way as you, you can’t tell that kind of thing by just looking at someone. And well, getting rejected always hurts… a lot sometimes.”

“You’ve been rejected before?” Scout looked back up at him. Did he really know what this felt like?

“Yup, a few times. It hurts, especially when you think you love them.”

Scout actually felt a little better knowing that Sniper understood what he was feeling right now. “What kind of woman would reject a handsome guy like you?” he said, half joking to lighten the mood a little. Sniper was good looking _and_ had an Australian accent, how could anyone say ‘no’ to that?

“Uh…” Sniper actually _blushed_ , turning his head away. “They weren’t women.”

“Oh, okay then.” Oh boy, awkward. “I guess then we both know what it’s like to crush on someone who doesn’t roll the same way, huh?”

“Yup, it uh… sucks.”

Awkward silence descended upon them. Scout broke it before it could get too bad. “Thanks for uh… looking for me and uh… talking to me and stuff. I appreciate it.” He did, enough that he had to vocalize it. He hadn’t thought anyone on the team cared about him enough to do that – except for Spy but Spy was his dad and he couldn’t talk to his dad about his relationship problems especially when it was Spy who had encouraged him to go ahead and make a proper move on Pauling.

“Anytime mate, glad I could help,” Sniper said, relaxing a little now that Scout had made up for his conversation blunder. “You ready to go back to base or uh… you need some more alone time?”

“Back to base. I’m hungry and need to stop wallowing in self-pity.” And he wanted a distraction from it all. He’d get over this eventually… hopefully.

 

Scout hung out with Sniper for pretty much the rest of the day. He needed the distraction from his hurt feelings and Sniper seemed okay with, maybe even willing to _be_ that distraction. Scout wasn’t going to question it, he’d take whatever he could get right now.

“How you doing Scout?” Demo asked shortly after Scout and Sniper had settled down to play poker in the common room.

 Scout placed his cards upside down on the table to turn his head to look at Demo. “What’s with you people today?” This was the fourth time he’d been asked how he was doing since he’d gotten back to the base with Sniper. First had been Engie, but he often asked how people were doing. Next had been Heavy then Pyro and now Demo, why?

Demo shrugged. “Just wondering. I can see your doing better though, that’s good. Hey Sniper.” He gave Sniper a small wave. “I’d join your game of poker but I got work to do.” He sighed and took a drink from his bottle before leaving again.

Scout picked up his cards again, looking across the table at Sniper. “Did everyone notice something was up with me?” Had he been that obvious?

“Yeah, think so,” Sniper replied with a shrug, turning his attention back to their game. “You were gone for hours and skipped lunch so it was hard not to.” Of course, Scout should’ve expected that. “I volunteered to go find you when it came up.” So he hadn’t gone looking for Scout on whim but had _volunteered_ to.

“Uh… why?”

Sniper shrugged. “Just did.”

Scout shifted in his chair before going back to focusing on the cards. He was learning a lot about Sniper today, mainly that he was a closer friend than Scout would’ve thought if he’d been given a reason to consider it beforehand. He was all right with that.


	2. Prefect Drawing

After that Scout made a point to hang out with Sniper more. He understood and knew about Scout’s broken heart and was willing to distract him from it. And well, he’d volunteered to find Scout and comfort him, which meant he liked Scout, right? They were good friends. He’d always been one of the better people on the team to talk to and hang out with anyway since he wasn’t busy doing stuff all the time and was always easy to find since while not in combat, he was more often than not in or around his campervan or at the shooting range, practicing. So, hanging out with him more was actually quite easy.

At some point, Scout wasn’t sure when, he got over Pauling. Not overnight or even in a week or two but still faster than he would’ve thought he would. He still found her attractive but in that way he could look at someone and say they’re hot without feeling any further attachment. And he still liked her just not like _that_. They could be friends or at least work acquaintances and he’d be happy with that.

He noticed this when upon sitting down to doodle his first thought of what to draw wasn’t Pauling but Sniper’s campervan instead – it was a bit beat up, giving it character, it’d be fun to draw. It was odd but… he wasn’t going to question it, getting over being rejected was a _good_ thing. He’d been a fool for thinking that Pauling might ever go for a guy like him anyway. He was an idiot who couldn’t even _read_ properly, no one as smart as her would _ever_ be interested in someone as dumb as him like that regardless of their sexuality.

And now he’d gone and made himself sad again, great. The kind of sad that came with knowing he’d never find love, he was too stupid for anyone to ever be interested in him like that. That was fine though, he was done with this whole romance nonsense thing. He wasn’t going to fall for anyone like that ever again, it’d just end the same exact way as all his potential other romances had; heartbreak. So… everything was just fine, no more being upset, no more falling in love with people who couldn’t possibly feel the same way. He was going to draw Sniper’s van instead and maybe a kangaroo next to it with a desert background – Australia was mostly deserts, right? – and get on with his life.

 

The next day he brought his drawing to compare it to the real-life thing. It wasn’t exact, he’d missed a few dents and scratches but it was pretty close. He had nothing to compare the kangaroo he’d drawn next to it to since he’d only ever seen them in picture books before. It was cute though, that’s all that mattered and it wore Sniper’s hat, making it even cuter.

“What you got there mate?”

Scout looked up to see that Sniper was now standing in the doorway of his van. He still wore his pajamas and looked half asleep despite the fact that noon was no more than an hour away. But considering the fact that it was the weekend and they had off, he was up a bit earlier than usual. He was one of those crazy people who stayed up stupidly late at night and thus slept until halfway through the day.

“Nothing,” Scout said, folding up the paper and putting it back in his pocket. He didn’t like showing his team mates his drawings of them or their stuff because it felt weird to do most of the time. “Want to go for a run with me?”

“Ugh, no, I just woke up.” Sniper grimaced as if he couldn’t think of a _worse_ thing to do in the ‘morning’.

“Suit yourself then _mate_ ,” Scout said with a chuckle, imitating Sniper’s accent. It was a poor imitation, though Sniper didn’t react to it this time. He was probably used to it by now, meaning Scout would have to find another way to bother him. “See you around.” He gave Sniper a wave before jogging off.

-

Scout frowned at the drawing on the paper. It was good but… it wasn’t quite right. Drawing a person in detail was always hard but it this like his sixth attempt in the last two weeks, it should be a bit better, right?

He flipped back to the first attempt, if anything _it_ was better. It was a casual drawing of Sniper leaning back against his campervan, the look on his face similar to the one the _real_ him wore when he was amused by a funny tale Scout had told him. But again, it didn’t _really_ capture Sniper’s essence the way Scout wanted. … He’d have to use Sniper as model, that would help, there was nothing else to do.

Of course, he couldn’t outright _ask_ Sniper to do that for that, that would be _weird_. So, he’d sketch him without Sniper knowing, which was also weird and maybe a bit creepy but wouldn’t require any awkward conversation unless he caught Scout doing it. He wouldn’t though because Scout knew the _perfect_ time and place to do it; the shooting range.

On days they didn’t have combat, Sniper always spent a few hours at the shooting range, making sure his aim remained as close to perfect as was humanly possible. Scout often joined him there, especially lately, either to practice with him or just to chat – he also had always admired just how _good_ Sniper was with his gun, it was fun to watch him practice with it. So him showing up and hanging around wouldn’t be viewed as suspicious… hopefully anyway.

And good news, tomorrow was a weekend, they had off. Meaning Scout could get his drawing done tomorrow and then he’d hopefully have his need for a as close to perfect as he could get drawing of Sniper fulfilled. Then maybe he could stop thinking about Sniper so much.

Why did he even need to do this? Or want to? … Nope, he was _not_ going to ask those questions, asking questions led to answers and sometimes answers weren’t good things. He was just going to do whatever the fuck he felt like and right now that was drawing the perfect picture of Sniper. Or uh… tomorrow, he’d do that tomorrow, for now he was going to go out for a run and meet up with Sniper later for dinner and then hang out and play cards or something with him.

 

“Hey Snipes, how’s it going?” Scout said as he strolled into the shooting range. He carried his sketchbook casually at his side. He didn’t take it out of his room often and it was far too thick to easily conceal so he didn’t bother trying. All he could do was pretend it was no big deal and hope no one else gave it any special attention.

Sniper grunted in response, too focused on aiming down his sights to answer properly, before firing. That was fine though, his extreme focus was what Scout was counting on.

“Cool,” Scout said once the report of his gun had faded – they both wore ear protection. “I’m just going hang out and chill for a bit if that’s okay.”

“Hmm, ‘kay,” Sniper replied, already scooping in for his next shot.

Scout jumped up on a nearby crate, hanging his feet off the edge and facing Sniper. He opened his sketchbook to a clean page – it was near the back, he’d have to get a fresh book soon – and started drawing.

Sniper was a good model, so still and focused. Scout just had to be careful when he looked up at him to make it seem like nothing more than a causal glance.

“What are you drawing?” Sniper asked after a while, still speaking in that way he did when he was preoccupied with something else but still cared about the conversation.

“Just some stuff,” Scout said causally. He’d expected that question eventually so he was prepared for it.

“What sort of stuff?” Now _that_ question Scout wasn’t prepared for. He was even less prepared for when Sniper lowered his gun to look at him, _genuinely_ interested and curious.

“Um… uh…” Scout stammered, his face growing warm. “Your gun.” He had to cover up why he was embarrassed and why he was drawing here and not in his room like he normally did. And it was technically true, he’d just started sketching out the beginning shape of it. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Nah, it’s cool but uh… why?”

Scout would like to know the answer to the question too. “It looks cool and it’s something to do. So hurry up and go back to holding it straight so I can finish.”

Sniper shrugged and returned to his target practice. Good, that meant Scout could go back to drawing. Hopefully he wouldn’t ask to see the drawing when Scout was done with it.

 

It took more than an hour for Scout to finish his drawing. He was _finally_ pleased with it too. He would’ve been more pleased with it if he’d been able to draw Sniper while he was at ease but he’d take what he could get.

Satisfied for the first time in what felt like a long time, he looked back up to admire the real thing again. Sniper was handsome and an all-around great guy. That’s why Scout wanted to draw him, he just liked Sniper a lot, nothing wrong with that. Except he liked Sniper _a lot_ , a lot, like…

Holding back a groan, Scout almost literally face palmed. No way was he falling for Sniper like that, nuh-uh, no way, no how, it wasn’t happening. Except it already had, he’d somehow fallen head over heels in love with Sniper without even realizing it. Could anyone blame him though? Sniper was super cool, hot, and smart… and he was _way_ out of Scout’s league. Just like _every_ other person Scout had fallen for. If he _had_ to fall for someone why couldn’t he fall for someone as dumb as he himself was so he wouldn’t have to go through this nonsense?

“Ah shit,” he said under his breath, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Something wrong?” Sniper asked, lowering his rifle to turn his head towards Scout.

“Nope.” Scout flipped his sketchbook closed and stood up. “I just remembered something I got to do.” He quickly left before Sniper could ask what it was.

He went straight to his room and tossed his sketchbook on his desk. He’d used too much force; it slid off, landing on the floor. Whatever he’d pick up later, his floor was already a mess anyway so who cared? He threw himself on the bed and pressed his face into his pillow to muffle a scream of frustration.

He was _not_ going to play this game again. Sniper like everyone else he’d ever been interested in wasn’t into him the same way. There was no way he could be, he was smart while Scout dumb as a sack of bricks. He couldn’t even _read_ properly for fuck’s sake, if Sniper knew that he probably wouldn’t even want be friends anymore.

Scout was sick and _tired_ of letting himself get his hopes up and dancing around his feelings before finally building up enough courage to ask for a date only to be _rejected_ and have his heart broken. He was _not_ going to let it happen again. He’d get over these stupid feelings like he always did even if it meant he had to stop hanging out with Sniper.


	3. Something's Wrong

Something was wrong. Scout hadn’t knocked on the camper door to wake Sniper up like he’d been doing. That by itself wouldn’t be too worrying – it’d be kind of nice actually – if it wasn’t for the fact that Sniper hadn’t seen Scout the rest of the day yesterday after the shooting range either.

With a groan, Sniper rolled out of bed. He’d go to the base’s kitchen for ‘breakfast’ and look around for Scout on the way there. If Scout wasn’t around, he’d ask around and then go looking for him properly if need be.

He got as ready as was possible for the day and left his van. It wasn’t long before he found Scout. He was in the common room playing cards with Heavy and Engie. He looked up as Sniper entered but quickly looked away again, not even saying ‘hello’ or smiling. Odd but Sniper wasn’t going to bother him. He’d no doubt be by later to chat about everything and nothing.

 

Except he wasn’t by later or even the next day or the day after. Even while they were in battle Scout seemed to go out of his way to avoid Sniper. _Why_? Had Sniper done something to upset him? If so, what? Maybe he’d _not_ done something he was supposed to do? But again, _what_?

By the time the next weekend rolled around Sniper decided to do something about it. It was a lot harder than it needed to be but he eventually got himself to approach Scout shortly after he’d gone into the shooting range. This way Sniper could pretend he’d come in here to practice too… except he’d forgotten his gun. Too late to do anything about it now though.

“Hey mate, how’s it going?” he asked, trying to act calm and casual. He _hadn’t_ done anything intentionally wrong, they were pals, there was no need to be nervous about talking to Scout. If he _had_ done something wrong or had failed to do something, they could talk about it and fix it, Scout had to know Sniper hadn’t meant to do anything to upset him, right?

“It’s going,” Scout replied cheerily. “I’m actually about to go for a run, see you later.”

“But you just…” Sniper trailed off, Scout was already out the door. He’d just gotten here not even half an hour ago and he hadn’t offered to let Sniper join him in that run like he’d taken to doing lately. Not that Sniper would’ve joined if given the invitation but still. Something was wrong. What though? And _did_ it have something to do with Sniper? Or was it something else?

 

He tried to talk to Scout again the next day, this time when he was playing a board game with Medic and Pyro.

“Hey Snipes,” Scout returned his greeting with a smile. Good, maybe he’d gotten over whatever was making him act weird. “I uh… actually just remembered something I got to do.” Or not. “It’s important so, see you guys later. Snipes can take my place.” Looking at Sniper, he gestured to the board game before jumping up to his feet and jogging out of the common room.

“What’s his problem?” Medic said with a disapproving frown.

“I don’t know. He’s been acting funny lately.” And Sniper didn’t like it. He sighed and turned to leave but Pyro grabbed his wrist.

He mumbled something that Sniper couldn’t quite understand through his mask but his urgent tone and the way he tugged lightly on Sniper’s wrist made it clear what he wanted. Well, it’s not like Sniper had anything better to do. So, he sat in chair Scout had just vacated with a sigh. He’d try to figure out what was wrong later.

 

“What’s wrong?” was what he started with right off the bat next time he ran into Scout. Which was the next day, Sniper had had to go specifically looking for him around the base and had finally bumped into him in the hallway.

“’Wrong’?” Scout replied. “Nothing’s wrong. You’re not even going to say ‘hi’? Whatever though, I got a thing I need to do so see you later.”

“Wait,” Sniper said but Scout had already turned back around the corner he’d just come around. “Don’t…” Sniper cut off as he rounded the corner himself to see that Scout was already gone. He was the fastest member of the team, Sniper had no hope of catching up to him.

He sighed and slumped against the wall instead. What was he going _do_? He cared about Scout a lot, he wanted to fix whatever he’d done wrong or not done that he was supposed to do. But how could he even try when Scout suddenly wouldn’t talk to him at _all_ let alone about whatever was bothering him?

Maybe he could ask Spy about it? He was Scout’s dad _and_ was the one of the most vigilant members of the team, maybe he’d know what was up. But… talking to him about this would be awkward, wouldn’t it? _Because_ he was Scout’s dad. Who else could he talk to though?

 

He tried again over the next few days, putting more time and effort into it than he’d put into anything nonjob related in years. He even tried to get Scout’s attention and talk to him midbattle, to the determent of both their performances. His efforts were in vain though; Scout was _far_ too good at avoiding him and running away when Sniper _did_ finally find him. He even tried to catch him on his morning run. That had failed too of course, Scout had claimed to be busy and had run around him, leaving him in the dust.

Afterward, Sniper returned to his van and slumped onto the lawn chair he kept next to it with a sigh. He’d tried everything, maybe it was time to just… give up. Scout didn’t want to be his friend anymore, maybe he should just accept that and move on.

“You and Scout need to have a talk.”

Sniper jumped up, snapping around to see Spy standing behind him. Sniper hadn’t heard him decloak, he was too distracted by his thoughts, fine here but not so fine on the battlefield. “What do you want?” he asked with a glare, he didn’t appreciate the jump scare.

“Lots of things,” Spy replied, lighting his cigarette. “But the thing I want from you is to talk to Scout so he’ll stop acting like an annoying idiot.”

“First of all, he won’t talk to me, I’ve _tried_. Second, don’t you think it’s kind of fucked up to call your own son an ‘annoying idiot’?”

Spy frowned his disapproval. “I didn’t _call_ him an ‘annoying idiot’, I said he’s acting like one because he is. And he’s doing it because of how he feels about you so you need to talk to him and sort all that out before it gets both of you killed. Corner him in his room so he can’t run away. Here’s a spare key in case the door’s locked and he won’t let you in.” He tossed something at Sniper and Sniper reflectively caught it.

He looked down at it. Yep, it was key with what was presumably Scout’s room number on it. “I’m not going to…” Looking back up, he trailed off; Spy was gone. “Asshole.”

He wouldn’t use the key, that’d be crossing the line big time, but Spy’s idea wasn’t a bad one. Scout couldn’t run away if he was in his room, right? He could ask Sniper to leave but that would still be talking to him at least a little bit more. It was pretty much the _only_ thing Sniper hadn’t tried yet because he’d never had any reason to be anywhere near Scout’s or any of the rest of team’s rooms.


	4. Talk

The door to Scout’s room swung open as Sniper knocked it, it must’ve not been latched properly. A quick peek inside revealed that the room was empty, Scout wasn’t there. Meaning if Sniper wanted to corner Scout in his room as Spy suggested, he’d have to come back later.

So he stepped in to grab the door handle. Before he could close it though he caught sight of Scout’s sketchbook lying on his desk. The page it was open to was torn, the copious amounts of eraser shavings led to the conclusion that that had been caused by a too vigorous attempt at erasing whatever had been drawn there.

Curious now, Sniper peeked out to check the hallway. The coast was clear so he stepped inside fully and pulled the door mostly closed behind him. As if not latching the door could somehow make what he was doing any better. But he was curious and Scout was acting weird, maybe this was a clue about why that was. Or Sniper was just being a nosy asshole making excuses for himself.

It was impossible to tell what the drawing had been. None of it remained and the tears in the paper made the faint traces of it left nigh on impossible to decipher. So after one more look over his shoulder, Sniper picked it up and flipped to the front.

On the first page was a picture of Miss Pauling. The careful and loving detail Scout had drawn her with made it clear it was back when he was still big into her. The next couple of pages were just sketches of stuff around the base or various random things and/or their teammates. That pattern kept up for a while, lots of pics of Pauling – all lovingly drawn – and various things in between.

All of it was quite good, Sniper was impressed. Scout didn’t show his drawings to many people unless they were jokes. Maybe Sniper would start asking him about them more often, assuming they got past whatever was making Scout avoid him.

He was just about to put the sketchbook down when he came across a drawing of himself. It wasn’t like the occasional quick sketch of himself that he’d come across before but a lovingly drawn and detailed picture. And there were more after it, several more.

 One in particular was fantastic, it was of him aiming with his rifle, the vague background details pointing towards it taking place in the shooting range. So… Scout had drawn a lot more than just his gun.

It was… _weird_ looking at all these lovingly drawn pictures of himself, especially this one, like he was looking at something personal and private. It made feel warm too though, he hadn’t known Scout looked at him like that. Whatever ‘that’ was.

After that though was when the frustrated scribblings and erasing started. It quickly led to the final torn page, suggesting Scout hadn’t even attempted to draw much since that last really nice picture. Why though? What had Sniper down to upset him so much?

“Hey!”

Sniper almost dropped the sketchbook as he snapped around to see that Scout had returned. He was standing in the open doorway, understandably, he didn’t look pleased. Whoops, Sniper had no one but himself to blame though for being a nosy bastard.

“Uh, hey mate, how’s it going?” He cringed at his own words. It was impossible for this to get any more awkward. If a hole in the ground opened up beneath him to swallow him whole, he’d almost welcome it.

“What are you doing in my…” Scout cut off, his eyes latching onto his sketchbook still in Sniper’s hands. “Were you looking at my drawings?”

“Sort of, yeah.”

“How much did you see?”

“Uh… a lot, I uh… kind of flipped through the whole thing. I’m…”

“Shit, fuck,” Scout cut him off. “It’s not what it looks like... or well it _is_ what it looks like but… it doesn’t… matter. It’s whatever you know? I’m sorry, super sorry, it’s awkward and shit I know but like… just pretend you don’t know _please_.” He was blushing hard and squirming nervously, looking like he wanted to run away from this conversation about as much as Sniper did. What was he talking about though? He should be berating Sniper for invading his privacy not apologizing to him.

“Sorry.” Sniper awkwardly closed the book and placed it back on the desk again. At this point he’d have leave except Scout was between him in the door, blocking the way, Sniper wasn’t going to push past him or ask him to move. “I shouldn’t’ve done that.” He should’ve just closed the door and left. “But uh… why are _you_ apologizing?”

Groaning, Scout pressed his hands to either side of his face and started pacing, making it even hard to get past him to the exit. “Because you _know_ now and it’s awkward and awful and weird.”

Sniper was missing something, his lack of people skills never failed him. Should he ask about it? Maybe it’d be best to just find a way out of this situation, say ‘excuse me’ and then just leave and hope this never came up again. “Know what?” Or not.

Scout paused, turning his head to look at Sniper again. “You mean… you looked at the all those pictures I drew of you in the past however many weeks and you _haven’t figured it out_?”

“Uh… no?” He shouldn’t have asked, he should’ve bailed. Too late now though. “They were nice though, you’re uh… really good at drawing.” Now probably wasn’t the time to compliment his art skills, was it?

“Oh my god, I’m such a fucking _idiot_. Why am I so _fucking dumb_? Just shoot me now please, put me out of my misery.”

“You’re not dumb.” Sniper wasn’t going to stand by and let Scout berate himself like that no matter how uncomfortable the circumstances of this conversation were.

“I _am_ though.” Scout started pacing again, not looking at Sniper and making frustrated gestures with his hands as he spoke. “You somehow _didn’t_ figure it out so I shouldn’t’ve said anything and now I basically have to tell you since you’ll think this conversation through later and figure it out then so I might as well just cut to the chase and get this shit over with since we’re both here and everything is awkward and ruined and horrible already.” He paused again, taking a deep breath and crossing his arms, keeping his head turned away from Sniper. “I’m like totally into you in a… romantic way.”

“Oh,” was all that came out of Sniper’s mouth. It was the dumbest thing he could’ve said but it was also the only thing he was capable of saying right now. He hadn’t even known Scout as into guys.

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” Scout’s shoulders slumped as he sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m a pathetic idiot who keeps falling for people just because they’re nice to me even though they’re always _way_ out of my league. It happened all throughout high school and then with Miss Pauling and now you. Every time I made a move I always get turned down because I can never fall for anyone who even has a small chance of being interested in me like that. That’s not surprising though considering apparently all it takes for me to fall for someone is them being nice to me, fucking pathetic I know. So I decided to not even bother this time so you don’t have to worry about it, just pretend we didn’t have this conversation.” He made vague gesture with his hand. “See you around, I guess.”

Sniper could easily leave now but… didn’t want to anymore. He couldn’t leave Scout like this. “What… what if… I _am_ interested?” It was a question for both himself and Scout. He hadn’t considered before because he’d always assumed Scout didn’t ‘roll that way’ as he’d put it. But he’d admired Scout’s energy, confidence, and sociability from day one. Since then he’d only grown to admire him more and care for him a lot. He’d be lying if he tried to tell himself he didn’t find Scout attractive too. So… he _was_ interested in Scout like that and better yet apparently Scout felt the same way. And better, better yet, Sniper hadn’t consciously realized this before now so he didn’t have to worry and stress about how Scout might feel about him.

Scout visibly tensed before turning his head to finally look at Sniper again. “Why would you be?”

Now it was Sniper’s turn to blush and shift awkwardly. “Because… I am.” What else could he say? He’d fallen for Scout, he hadn’t realized because he was bad with people and relationships but he had.

Scout looked at him speechless for a few seconds before replying. “I’m stupid, I can’t read properly, I mix the letters up a lot because I’m too dumb not to.” He sounded like he genuinely believed that and… that was sad. “Still want anything to do with me knowing that?” Did he expect that to alter Sniper’s feelings for him?

“You’re not dumb or stupid.” Sniper was bad at this type of thing but he _had_ to do his best because Scout deserved to be happy and not feel so bad about himself. “Being book smart isn’t the only kind of smart and I ain’t too a good a reader either.” He didn’t need to be, reading wasn’t a preferred hobby of his. “And even if you were stupid, that’d be okay and I wouldn’t care and uh… it wouldn’t change anything.”

“You… you really mean that?” Scout’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. If he started crying Sniper would have _no_ idea how to handle that so hopefully, he wouldn’t. “You still like me even though I’m dumb?”

“Yep, I really mean that. But you’re not…”

Scout shot up and hugged him. He was shocked but found himself returning it before giving it any real thought. It was nice and the way Scout clung to him as if he needed him made him feel warm inside.

Eventually they broke apart so Scout could wipe his tears away with the heel of his hand. He was smiling though, looking happier than Sniper had seen him in a while which in turn made Sniper happy too. “Thanks,” he said. “But uh… are you really like me like _that_ , for reals?”

“Yeah, I uh do.” Any doubts he might’ve had had been dispelled by how nice that hug had been and the look on Scout’s face now. He wanted Scout to be happy and the thought of Scout being happy in his arms was more than a little appealing.

“I guess this means we’re like… dating or something now, right?”

“Yeah, I guess it does, huh? I’ve never had a boyfriend before though so… sorry if I’m like awkward and stuff.” It was best to get that out of the way now in case Scout expected him to know anything about romantic relationships. Pretty much everything he did know was gotten from books and movies and he didn’t tend to consume media that focused on romance so his knowledge on it was limited.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend before either. I had a girlfriend once back in high school but it turns out that she only agreed to go out with me because her friends dared her to.”

“Oh, sorry mate, that sucks.”

“Eh, it was a long time ago and she was a bitch anyway. I’m happy now though, thanks. Sorry for being a mess and avoiding you and stuff. I just… didn’t want to be rejected again.”

“I understand.” That was reasonable, he would’ve preferred it if Scout had just _talked_ to him like an adult instead of letting him worry and think he’d done something wrong for so long. Though… if Sniper had realized how hard he’d fallen before now he probably also wouldn’t have said anything so he couldn’t judge much. Happily, things had somehow worked out though. And they were like… a _thing_ now, that was good. So…

Before Sniper could second-guess himself or hesitate to the point of inaction, he leaned in to kiss Scout on the cheek. Brief and chaste it lasted no more than a second. He was almost shocked he’d done it and it made his face burn.

“Whoa hey,” Scout said, grabbing the front of Sniper’s shirt as he tried to retreat. “You’re not going to get away with doing that and then running away.” Standing on his toes, it was now his turn to kiss Sniper… on the mouth.

Shocked once more, it took Sniper a few seconds before he could reciprocate. He was bad at kissing but that was okay, Scout wasn’t too great either. They both made up for it with earnestness. It was nice and felt good and proper, he liked it.

“If you two are going to make out the least you could do is close the damn door.”

They flinched apart to look towards the door – Sniper had forgotten it was still open from when Scout had come in. Spy was standing in the doorway, looking at them with a glare. Of all people to walk by and see them Spy was probably the worst one. How would he react to this? Would he disapprove? Approve? Would he even _care_? … Wait, he’d already known, this was why he’d told – more like ordered – Sniper to talk to Scout, right?

“Hey Dad,” Scout said like it was no big deal as he turned to face him, putting an arm around Sniper’s shoulders as he did so. “Me and Sniper are dating now, isn’t that cool?”

“Good for you. I don’t want to see it though so keep your damn door closed.” He stepped in, grabbed the door handle and stepped out, pulling the door closed with a soft thud.

“Well at least we know my dad approves,” Scout said with grin as he stepped back.

“I guess.” It hadn’t looked like approval but his advice – if it could be called that – had ultimately led to Sniper coming here which had led to this so he at the very least didn’t disapprove.

“Yeah, if he didn’t approve, he’d have threatened to gut you.” Probably true. “But speaking of that uh… do we want to tell the rest of the team or keep it a secret?”

“Uh… how ‘bout we just let them figure it out on their own.” Sniper didn’t want to go through the social interactions involved in telling everyone but he also didn’t want to keep it a secret.

“Works for me,” Scout said. “Thanks though for everything, really, you’re wonderful.”

And now Sniper was blushing again. How was he supposed to respond to that? “You too.”

“Let’s go get something to eat, we can figure out what we want to do for a first date later.”

“Sure.” Sniper would probably find a way to fuck up their first date but he could worry about that later. For now, he let Scout take his hand and lead him out. Sniper had never held someone’s hand like this before. It was nice, he could get use to it.


End file.
